Blandford Ski Area Faces Uncertain Future

The future appears uncertain for the Blandford Ski Area in western Hampden County. And the non-profit club that owns it is blaming Mother Nature for some of its woes.

In a statement, officials for Blandford Ski Area sAid they are exploring all options to stay open, but also concede that selling the property could be an option.

According to the Westfield News, the mountain's business has taken a hit over the last two years, because of not enough snow and troubles with the water supply for snowmaking, due to the drought.

Michael Berry is president of the National Ski Areas Association, an industry group. He said Blandford's troubles speak to a trend of smaller, more rustic, mountains going out of business as skiers expect more.

"In the good old days, if you will, you had a rope tow and you waited for it to snow," Berry said. "For a few weeks in the middle of the winter, everybody had a grand time. Sadly enough, there's very little place for that, unfortunately, in today's reality."

Some of those things needed to keep up with customer demands, according to Berry: state-of-the-art snowmaking equipment to combat changing weather patterns and newer, more modern ski lifts. Those are things smaller operators, Berry said, have trouble affording.

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